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by steve, on September 9th, 2010 ( Ile de Grace, Mariposa, Nuie)
For breakfast we sampled sausages. Since we left Grenada we’ve not seen a decent pork sausage until here. A couple of days ago we bought a couple of packets but have yet to try them. I was keen to find out if they were ok or not so I fried a few up for breakfast. They weren’t the very best but they turned out pretty good and low in fat which was even better.
Overnight there had been a lot of rain and we did wonder if it would be ok to press on with our touring of the island. Realizing the weather was quite changeable we went ashore and gambled on the weather improving as it did the day before.
Our first stop was to drop off our disk drive with one of the chaps we met the day before who worked in one of the stores. He turned out to have a few movies that we didn’t have and we certainly had a few he didn’t so we’d agreed to a swap. He’d even bought a brand new external disk drive to contain what we were bringing. Next we headed down the road to drop off our empty propane tank for a fill. Then we were off touring.
 Our first stop was Palaha Cave. It was a short walk from the road before we reached the cave entrance. It looked reasonably impressive but not overwhelming at first. We did see that the cave bent around to the right so we figured we may as well scramble down and take a look. What a sight that presented itself to us. The small beginning opened up into a grand cave with amazing formations of stalagmites, tites and pillars. The other end of the cave was open to the sea.
 In many places in the world with higher tourist volumes a cave such as this, if it was accessible at all, would be overlaid with walkways and barriers to keep visitors away from the soft rocks. Presumable due to the low volume of tourists coming to Niue (one flight per week + yachties) we are allowed to walk around and explore unhindered. This makes caves like this a lot of fun and very interesting.
Our next stop was for a swim in Matapa Chasm  further up the coast. The chasm leads almost directly out to the sea. It is fed with fresh water that mixes with the sea water. We had brought our facemasks so we could swim and look around. The fresh water entering the chasm was a little chilly. Interestingly the salt water beneath was warmer so we had the odd effect of getting warmer when we dove down. Also, the mixing of the salt and fresh water created a blurred effect when looking through our masks. Diving below into the warm water got below this mixed layer showing the water to be crystal clear.
Without having to move the car our next stop was  Talava Arches. This was a bit of a hike over a rough coral path. After our experience from the previous day we decided to wear proper shoes. After about 20 minutes we came to a small entrance in a rock face. It felt a bit like one of those books/movies where one goes through a small cave into a different world. Like the previous cave we were presented with lots of colourful erosion and deposition formations.  The initial cave opened into an oasis of vegetation and grandness. Facing the sea there were several large arches. Inland we had cliffs with additional caves to explore. With the tide near its full ebb a large plateau of rock had surfaced upon which we could walk. At one end of this area was a pool with a striking blue colour.
After we’d explored this area we returned to the car. My feet, unused to shoes, were now blistering so as soon as I could I switch my shoes for my flip flops. Back at the car we stopped off at a small bar for some refreshing fruit juice before moving on.
 Our next stop was Avaiki Cave near to our first stop. This was another short walk and again a walk through cave. This time the highlight was an amazing still blue pool inside and underneath a large overhang. Here there were many more deposition formations formed by countless years of water dripping through the rocks overhead. There was a hard to find passage that led us round to a balcony over the pool giving us a great look down and around.
By now we were hot, exhausted and ready for another swim. Our next stop was the pools at Limu. Here we met the Mariposas. These are outdoor natural pools with caves and arches into which one can swim. Like before, they were a mixture of fresh and salt water. Unlike before there waters  were calm enough to allow the layers to settle in places giving a very unique visual experience. We started at the upper pools which were quite deep in places. Helen didn’t stay too long in the pool after she learned there were snakes in the water. Ben and I had a refreshing swim here. We returned to the lower pools where we’d met Terry and Andrew and swam there too. Being shallower they didn’t seem to be a good habitat for the snakes which allowed Helen to spend more time here.
We’d been promising ourselves Fish and Chips all day so it was now back to Alofi for a late lunch. Fortunately they had some left and soon we were tucking in. There is no cod down here so the fish they use turns out to be yellow fin tuna. All very delicious.
We next checked in on John with our disk drive. He was part of the way through copying and needed a lot more time so we agreed to leave our drive with him for the evening. Next door, in the computer shop, we bumped into John and Jennifer from Ile de Grace who were troubleshooting separate connection issues with each of their laptops. Having figured out similar on our setup I was able to fix both in short time. It’s good to still feel useful from time to time.
We next picked up our propane on the way to the dive operator which ended up being further away than we remembered. We wanted to talk to them about what we could possibly do. The lady there was only able to take our names as possible for Friday or Saturday. There is a dive called snake gully which Ben and I are interested in. Helen is not.
Our last stop was Sails Bar north of town where we relaxed with a couple of beers looking out over the sea hoping to catch sight of whales. The weather closed in and started to rain after a day of pleasant weather. We’d been lucky. They had their own sausage sizzle that night but we decided not to stay as we were tired and still full of fish and chips. We made our way back to the boat and chilled out the evening.
We’ve decided to keep the car one more day as there are still some places to visit on this unique island that we don’t want to miss. It also gives us a chance to visit the morning market on Friday before handing the car back.
by steve, on September 8th, 2010 ( Ile de Grace, Infinity, Mariposa, Nuie)
Monday
On Monday morning we woke to see a pod of small dolphins in front of the boat. After pulling ourselves together we dinghied ashore to check in. Niue has the most unique dinghy dock we’ve encountered so far. One pulls up along side the dock and attaches a hook from a dockside crane to a prepared bridle on the dinghy. You exit the dinghy and climb the stairs and use the nearby control to raise the dinghy out of the water, swing the crane around and then lower the dinghy onto a trolley. One then wheels the dinghy over to the dinghy park and leaves it on the ground. Leaving shore entails reversing the same process.
Our first stop was the customs office. There we met Kerry and Andrew from Mariposa, Jenny and and John from Ile de Grace as well as Anne from Infinity who was just leaving. The customs officer was friendly and welcoming which is always such a pleasure.
Our next stop was the immigration office attached to the police station. We met the same crowd as we all had the same need to check into the country. Again, all was friendly and welcoming. Soon we were done and officially in.
We carried on walking south down the road looking for the indian restaurant we’d heard about. We found it before too long. It was not spectacular but it would do. We let them know we would be there the following evening. A short walk further took us to Alofi Car Hire where we booked a car for two days starting Tuesday morning.
Back in town we first visited the yacht club and vowed to return for their full english breakfast. We dropped off our washing at the laundrette then checked out the duty free beer place. We decided to buy a few of each as samplers. We’d heard that it is cheaper to buy here at duty free prices than in Tonga.
Next we went back to the yacht club for a delicious egg, bacon, sausage, beans and toast breakfast with a beer. There we again met the Mariposas with whom we chatted for a while. Before leaving we had an ice cream each.
Next stop were the showers down by the block owned by the yacht club which we have access to as part of our mooring rental. Without a working water maker we can’t have decent showers on the boat so this was a delight.
By the time we were back on the boat it was early afternoon. The internet was now working although outgoing email was a struggle. That was eventually fixed and soon we were playing catch up on everything.
In the evening we went back ashore for the “sausage sizzle” at the Niue Yacht Club. There we met old and new friends and had a good evening.
Tuesday (Helen’s Birthday)
We were ashore by 8:30 and met at the dock to be taken back to the car hire place to complete the minimal paperwork and collect our car.
We first drove south hoping to find the fruit market. We got the wrong place and found it closed anyway. We visited the nearby Matavai resort for it’s excellent views of the coast but were too late for breakfast.
Feeling hungry we headed back north to Alofi to get something to eat. We passed the fruit market and it was closed too. We later found out that if you didn’t get there by 6am you wouldn’t get much anyway. We visited the duty free place and bought duty free beers for the next 2 months leaving them there for later pickup.
We then drove over to the SE corner of the island to visit the chasms. It must be noted that Niue is an uplifted coral atoll. The land is mainly made of coral that formed on the sea bed and has been pushed up cracking in many places forming chasms here and there.
Out first stop was Anapala chasm. From the car park it was a short forest trail followed by 99 steps down into a narrow chasm with fresh water at the bottom. The forest trail was eerie with coral formations poking up through the undergrowth almost looking like ancient ruins. The chasm was really interesting with all sorts of deposits and formations on the walls. The water at the bottom looked deep but narrow. We declined to swim to the other end.
Our next stop was the famous Togo chasm. This was a much longer through forest and then over a very rugged wind swept terrain with vast areas of sharp, spiky coral formations all around. The chasm was entered by descending a long wooden ladder into a sandy oasis. There were watery caves to explore (reminding us a little of the Baths at the BVIs). We climbed over some sharp coral rocks (in our flip flops) to reach another area. Flat sand with palm trees edged by vertical walls of compressed coral forming a canyon with a stagnant pond at the other end. It felt like a lost world.
Our third chasm, Vaikona, was listed on the map but not in our guide. We’d heard that the boys on Bubbles had enjoyed this one. Even though we’d brought shoes we explored this one in our flip flops as we’d done ok so far. This turned out a bit of a mistake. After a pleasant forest trail with the usual coral poking through for the unwary we then had to traverse a long section of sharp corally rocks. It was hard work avoiding cuts on the sharp edges everywhere. Then it became a mixture of dense overgrowth and sharp coral (you get the continuous theme of sharp edges here) which often had us ducking to get through tight spaces. We eventually got to a point where we could look down into a chasm from up above. Pushing on a little further we came to a sign mentioning a cave and to enter at our own risk due to falling rocks. We saw the path continue figuring we’d crossed an ocean at our own risk so could manage this. The path became harder still to traverse eventually opening out near the coast. We made it right up to the east coast where we were treated with an amazing sight of tremendous waves crashing against a very rugged shore. Looking out we could see the same seas we had sailed through to get here and were more than happy to be nestled in a safe bay not going anywhere.
Heading back Helen pushed on ahead keen to get away from the sharp corals which were shredding her flip flops. Ben and I explored the area around the cave sign and found the cave which was really a place where part of the ground had shifted downward leaving a 45 degree gash in the ground. We entered the darkness of the cave crouching as the headroom was pretty low. The gash worked it’s way down to the floor of the chasm we’d seen earlier. Had we been all together we may have push on to the bottom. As it was we felt we had to go and chase Helen.
Good thing we did as we got a little lost on the way back missing a turn ending up in a vast area of, guess what, sharp coral. Helen had also made the wrong turn and we found her looking for the path onwards. Had only one set of us made the wrong turn we may have got badly separated and out of touch. A good lesson learned. We eventually found the right path and were soon heading back. We met the first people/tourists all day – a bunch of young folks on vacation here from NZ. We chatted for a while before wishing them well and headed back to the car.
We made it back to town in time to pick up our beer from the duty free store. Then we picked up our washing and visitied the supermarket to provision. We then drove back to the quay, plonked the dinghy into the water and loaded it up as much we could leaving some beer in the car. We parked the car then headed back to Dignity to unload.
We had a couple of hours rest aboard Dignity before we headed back ashore for dinner. While the place was a little shabby the curries we had were excellent and filled us up. The rotis we ordered for starters were delivered after our main course. Ben and I managed to stuff ours down but Helen saved hers for later.
Back on the boat we settled down to watch a movie. During the movie we heard the sounds of a nearby whale. Looking out we could see a large creature just behind one of the nearby yachts. Hopefully we’ll get to see one in the daylight sometime soon.
The weather continues to be a bit crappy and windy. We have the car for another day and plan to visit some of the sights on the NW side of the island today. Perhaps tomorrow we’ll go diving at the sites nearby. Not sure if Helen will go as there are lots of snakes in the water – not her cup of tea.
by KC2RIY, on September 6th, 2010 ( Mariposa, Nuie, Trim)
That’s mostly how I’d describe the rest of Sunday. On and off naps recovering from the night before, a little reading and some internet struggling. In theory we were supposed to be able to get an internet connection by giving the yacht club a login and password. In practice it didn’t work for us nor any other vessels around. I even tried going over to Trim to try things out there but to no avail. While I was off the boat Ben went for a snorkel and saw a couple of the legendary sea snakes of Niue. On the way back from Trim I popped over to say hello to Kerri and Andrew on Mariposa. Despite the amount of sleep during the day we were all off to bed before 8.
Today we’ll be going ashore to check in and check out the island. We plan on hiring a car tomorrow – perhaps for a couple of days – to explore the chasms.
Given the information we had available to us and what transpired for us and other vessels in the vicinity, our decision to leave at 9:30am yesterday seems to have been the right one. However, being the best option available didn’t make it a lot of fun. The forecast was for 20-25 knots of wind. What we had was 25-35 all day and night long.
We had the main double reefed and the head sail reefed in too. We had the regeneration on all day and night just to try and control our arrival time, hopefully making it in after dawn. Given that the distance was over 140nm it was a struggle to keep Dignity from doing the distance in under 20 hours.
The seas picked up to between 3 and 4 meters in height which gave us a pounding. At the best of time it was a wild ride. At times waves would crash over and sometimes it felt like we were being hit by a bus.
During Helen’s late night shift the head sail managed to get wrapped around itself back winding at the top and getting a bit tangled. I was sleeping in the cabin in case of any issues so I got the call. In 35 knots of wind and crashing seas I sorted out the head sail. We agreed we needed to get the main down which we’ve never done under such conditions. We managed it although it was a bit of a struggle. Afterward, with just the head sail out, the running was much more comfortable.
Dawn found us screaming around the corner of Niue where the seas picked up further. At one time we sustained a 16 knot surf down a huge wave. As we rounded the corner the winds subsided and the seas flattened. We contacted the officials to let them know we were arriving and we contacted the yacht club for a mooring. As it is Sunday here we can’t clear in but we can sit here for the day. I’ve had a few hours sleep to catch up on the little I had overnight. After all, we have nothing else to do. We’ve arranged for an internet connection but it’s taking time to set up. I think we may end up being lucky to get one today.
A few boats we know or at least have spoken to are here: Trim, Ile de Grace, Freezing Rain, Joule, Mariposa. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of these folks over the next few days. We’ve spoken to Ken on Trim and he’s already eaten at the one and only Indian Restaurant here. He says it is good so we’re now committed to going there on Helen’s birthday on Tuesday.
by KC2RIY, on September 3rd, 2010 ( Ile de Grace, Nuie, Trim)
We approached the reef from the north tacking our way in against the wind which was now beginning to clock round to the ESE. On the way in we were hailed by one of the two vessels in the reef, Ile de Grace. We learned that both they and Trim, who we’d met in Palmerston, were anchored in the middle of the reef, presumably to give them room to drag through the recent heavy weather. Our plan was to motor on through to the east side of the reef and anchor on the sand. We learned they were planning a fish supper which we agreed to join and would make plans throughout the day. We had plenty of choice where to anchor and picked a spot in about 10ft of water.
Shortly after arriving we were met by John and Jenny from Ile de Grace on their way back from snorkeling on the reef. They wanted to say hello. They were interested in the hybrid boat as I knew was Ken from Trim so we suggested having the fish dinner aboard Dignity. Not long after, Ken and Laurie popped by on their way out to the reef and we had a quick chat with them too.
We spent the rest of the morning resting and catching up on some needed sleep.
After lunch, Ben and I headed out for a snorkel on the reef, Helen deferring her swim until she’d heard from us. We were out for about an hour. The water was a little cooler than we’ve been used to and their was a bit of a current coming over the reef. All the same, the water was crystal clear. We could see for a very long way. There were plenty of fish to see, often quite large, and we had a reef shark cruise along with us for a while. We had hoped to see some lobsters. Ben spotted one that looked a little ill and shot it. We discovered it was just a hollow carapace – no wonder it didn’t look it’s best.
At 5pm local time we all met aboard Dignity for dinner. Everyone had cooked something different and it was all good. There was some excellent curried mahi mahi, some grilled wahoo and some mahi mahi pasta from Helen accompanied by freshly baked bread and followed by lemon cake and cookies. Delicious.
Wanting to get into the new timezone and realizing we have another two hours to shift in Tonga we stayed up to watch a movie. Helen didn’t stay a wake for too long but Ben and I made it through. Here we were, miles from anywhere, anchored on a pinnacle of rock rising from the floor of the Pacific watching Kill Bill with the stars shining over head.
We plan to stay here today and, if the weather permits, leave for Niue tomorrow.
by KC2RIY, on August 29th, 2010 ( Southern Cooks, The Road)
by KC2RIY, on August 28th, 2010 ( Southern Cooks, The Road, Trim)
We’ve had a busy couple of days here on Palmerston.
On Thursday we were taken ashore mid morning. We were ferried in, again, by our host Edward. This time he picked up Ken and Laurie from Trim moored next to us. We had a brief chat with them before Helen, Ben and I went to the shore to snorkel in the crystal clear warm waters surrounding the island. Apart from the usual, but abundant, crowd of fish we saw a small turtle and two dead sharks. The sharks get it from the villagers. I assume because the sharks are competing for the same fish the villagers eat they get a bash on the head if they get too close.
Back ashore we all had a shower using collected rainwater. This was especially pleasant as we can’t have showers aboard as a result of the broken water maker. We then headed back to the school as it was now the lunch break and we had a few bits and pieces to give the school. From the school we walked to the beach on the south side and round to Tere’s house which is just finishing construction and is the nicest on the island. It even has a guest house on the beach which looks very romantic.
We had more fried wahoo for lunch which was just as tasty and just as filling.
In the afternoon we hung around Edwards home with his family and Ken and Laurie from Trim. Shirley, Edward’s wife, brought out some juice and rum (from Trim) which we supped and mellowed out. Occasionally we would wander around. Edward was cutting branches off a mahogany tree to trade with a friend for goods. The five little piglets running around were quite a draw. We were given some barbecued wahoo to take back to the boat which we later ate. It was delicious.
On Friday we went ashore to take a look at the laptops and printers which had been reported to have problems. Ben came up with most of the answers but in some cases the problems were trivial (out of ink/out of paper).
We again had wahoo for lunch but this time we had it steamed and it came with doughnuts of which Ben ate about 5. There were still many left and we eventually went back to the boat we were given a plateful. They surely want to fatten us up.
Around mid afternoon Ben and I were picked up to help Edward and his two sons, John and David, fish for parrot fish on the reef. They laid out a net across a shallow part of the reef while we circled round to scare the parrot fish in. The first time we didn’t catch anything which may have been partly due to Ben and my inexperience. We felt bad when the fish got past us and not into the net.
The next time, with a little help from another father and son, we caught 19 parrot fish. Even then, the rest of them took over leaving Ben and I at the back feeling a little spare. But we probably helped a bit.
Next stop was fishing rods on the reef. I lost my hook, bitten off by a baby shark and nearly caught something else but I don’t know what. Ben managed to catch a pretty big relative of a grouper which we gave to the family. They’d caught two tiny ones so we felt as though we’d contributed.
That evening, as with the previous two, we pushed on with watching The Lord of the Rings extended edition until we felt too tired to continue.
Our plan had been to leave Saturday morning. However, we learned that on Saturday morning Edward and his sons would be going out to catch birds on one of the other islands along with the other families from the village. Furthermore, if we were around at 2pm we would count towards his families share of the overall catch. Furthermore, these birds were considered a treat and we would be fed some if we were here on Sunday. So we’ve decided to stay on until Monday morning.
This morning, Ben and I were picked up around 6:30am and were taken across the Lagoon to one of the unoccupied motus. The birds are actually preflight chicks about the size of a small hen. The younger ones are left and only the ones big enough are taken. One just grabs them by their head and stuffs them in a sack. The family knew where to look and bagged all the birds. Ben and I added moral support. In their boat the birds were left to sit in the bottom where they puked up the bits of fish they had earlier eaten. This, apparantly, was edible. I though David was joking when he said we could eat it but it turned out to be true as Edward ate some later. Yach.
On the way back to the main island we spotted another sailboat on the way in. We stopped off at the main island to drop the birds and David off and headed back to Dignity. Edward and John hung around for a while. He knew he could get to the boat first as the other hosts had left it til later to hunt their birds. The boat turned out to be The Road last seen by us in Huahine. They’d had a long sail from Bora Bora without their autopilot and were hence tired. I agreed to go with Edward and join them in case they needed extra help coming in. By now we had humpback whales in the vicinity. I kept only seeing their splashes. Even when I was aboard The Road and they were breaching nearby I kept missing them. Oh well.
Once The Road was safely moored Edward took me back to Dignity. Ben and I headed off to the reef with our spear guns and soon had snagged 5 large parrot fish which we intend to give to Edward – hopefully making up for the lost fish from our first attempt yesterday. The snorkeling was excellent which pursuaded Helen to come out with us for a bit even though she’d just washed her hair. The visibility was excellent and by the reef there were lots of underwater fissures to explore. There were a few white tip sharks swimming around but they were more scared of us.
This afternoon, at 2pm, the birds will be shared out. We should be going ashore to watch this event. Then they’ll have their necks massaged (to death), be plucked, fired then frozen ready for the feast tomorrow.
by KC2RIY, on August 14th, 2010 ( At Sea, Society Islands, Tyee)
by KC2RIY, on August 13th, 2010 ( Kamaya, Society Islands, Tyee)
Thursday morning we saw dive/tour boats come to the pass to let folks snorkel with the mantas. We hung back hoping to have less of a crowd later on. When we did go Helen decided to pass on it as the waves had picked up and it was a bit choppy. Ben and I headed out and managed to find one large manta ray but couldn’t keep up for long.
In the afternoon we all went out to the nearby motu to walk all the way around. As we approached the outer reef Ben and I were assessing the place for possible places to go lobster hunting after dark. We made it all the way around the motu and back to the dinghy. We next went to the pass to let Helen swim around looking for the mantas but she had no luck. Final stop was to head out to near of the mouth of the pass to look at the reef opposite to were we had been walking. Ben and I thought this was more promising and waypointed the cut through the reef using the hand held GPS.
After dinner and movie that evening Ben and I headed out in the dark. Finding our way through the reef in the dinghy was a little trickier than we’d anticipated but we made it. We had no luck hunting for lobsters though and thoughts of a banquet gave way to hopes for perhaps just an aperitif. But that was not to be.
This morning our fortune turned. We woke to find almost no wind and almost flat waters. We first attacked our much postponed project to tart up the ragged bits of our head sail. Once this was done and the net was over we headed out to the pass to look for mantas. And mantas we found. The were a few circling a particular rock seemingly unconcerned with snorklers around them. At times we were able to swim down to the bottom at 25ft or so and just hang out while they swam over us with their mouths gaping wide. The largest was about 8ft across which makes for a big beastie – all the more impressive when they appear to be all mouth.
Just before lunch Ben spent an hour giving some of the boat kids from Kamaya, Tyee and the nearby French boat a maths lesson. All about Pi. I think they enjoyed it – particularly having a change from their parents as teachers.
This afternoon we’ve been cleaning the hull ready for our departure. The key thing is waiting for the right weather window. Oddly the downloadable GRIB weather forecasts have been remaining remarkably consistent and tomorrow (Saturday) looks to be the right day to go. We’ll start with southerly winds which may make exiting the pass tricky. This will allow us to push west before the trade winds reestablish themselves giving us a better line to Aitutaki. That’s the plan. We’ll see how it plays out. If all goes well, next blog will be at sea.
After the morning net we dinghied ashore with a view to walking around the island. It’s about 6 miles all told and a paved road all the way. Despite the previous days disruption to the well being of my big toe I figured I was up for it. I’m glad we went as it was a very pleasant hike. At point point we crested a low saddle where we had great views to the south and north. There we bumped into John, Lucy and the kids from Tyee who were bicycling around the island. They’ve been here for two weeks enjoying being off the beaten path and the safety of the lagoon where they’ve been kite boarding practically every day.
Back aboard we made final use of the internet before grabbing a bite to eat and then moving south to the anchorage behind the motu by the pass. Tyee were anchored there with a couple of other boats. Sea Mist and Kamaya were just arriving. Endless Summer had also arrived but were coming up to the town. We waved and chatted as we passed each other.
Lucy from Tyee had organised a beach party – mainly for the kids – but also for the adults. At 5:30pm we all started heading ashore. The folks on the French catamaran had gathered firewood and had already started a fire – an essential part of any beach party. We brought beers to quaff. Costa Rican beers. Although we’re still in French Polynesia we feel reasonably safe breaking into one of our bonded lockers to access our treasured supplies there.
We ended up staying quite late on the beach chewing the cud as usual. The stars were out and it was supposed to be a good night for watching the Perseid meteors. When we returned to the boat Ben and I spent some time stargazing but saw very little sign of increased meteor activity.
Today we plan to swim with the manta rays that are supposed to be easy to spot here.
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Our first stop was Palaha Cave. It was a short walk from the road before we reached the cave entrance. It looked reasonably impressive but not overwhelming at first. We did see that the cave bent around to the right so we figured we may as well scramble down and take a look. What a sight that presented itself to us. The small beginning opened up into a grand cave with amazing formations of stalagmites, tites and pillars. The other end of the cave was open to the sea.
In many places in the world with higher tourist volumes a cave such as this, if it was accessible at all, would be overlaid with walkways and barriers to keep visitors away from the soft rocks. Presumable due to the low volume of tourists coming to Niue (one flight per week + yachties) we are allowed to walk around and explore unhindered. This makes caves like this a lot of fun and very interesting.
further up the coast. The chasm leads almost directly out to the sea. It is fed with fresh water that mixes with the sea water. We had brought our facemasks so we could swim and look around. The fresh water entering the chasm was a little chilly. Interestingly the salt water beneath was warmer so we had the odd effect of getting warmer when we dove down. Also, the mixing of the salt and fresh water created a blurred effect when looking through our masks. Diving below into the warm water got below this mixed layer showing the water to be crystal clear.
Talava Arches. This was a bit of a hike over a rough coral path. After our experience from the previous day we decided to wear proper shoes. After about 20 minutes we came to a small entrance in a rock face. It felt a bit like one of those books/movies where one goes through a small cave into a different world. Like the previous cave we were presented with lots of colourful erosion and deposition formations. 
The initial cave opened into an oasis of vegetation and grandness. Facing the sea there were several large arches. Inland we had cliffs with additional caves to explore. With the tide near its full ebb a large plateau of rock had surfaced upon which we could walk. At one end of this area was a pool with a striking blue colour.
Our next stop was Avaiki Cave near to our first stop. This was another short walk and again a walk through cave. This time the highlight was an amazing still blue pool inside and underneath a large overhang. Here there were many more deposition formations formed by countless years of water dripping through the rocks overhead. There was a hard to find passage that led us round to a balcony over the pool giving us a great look down and around.
were calm enough to allow the layers to settle in places giving a very unique visual experience. We started at the upper pools which were quite deep in places. Helen didn’t stay too long in the pool after she learned there were snakes in the water. Ben and I had a refreshing swim here. We returned to the lower pools where we’d met Terry and Andrew and swam there too. Being shallower they didn’t seem to be a good habitat for the snakes which allowed Helen to spend more time here.
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